Responses
Other responses
Jump to comment:
- Published on: 2 June 2003
- Published on: 11 December 2002
- Published on: 27 November 2002
- Published on: 26 November 2002
- Published on: 8 November 2002
- Published on: 7 November 2002
- Published on: 28 October 2002
- Published on: 2 June 2003Weighing of breast fed babies is importantShow More
Dear Editor, We read with interest the article by Laing and Wong [1] which highlights the risk of Hyernatraemic dehydration in breast fed babies.
Undoubtedly, hypernatraemic dehydration is a potentially devastating condition associated with risk of cerebral edema, gangrene, hydrocephalus, intracranial haemorrhage and death.[2] Recently, there has been an increase in the number of cases that are reported [3] and b...
Conflict of Interest:
None declared. - Published on: 11 December 2002Weighing alone will not prevent hypernatraemic dehydration.Show More
Dear Editor
Having recently reviewed the case notes of babies readmitted to hospital in the first 10 days of life (over a 1 year period), we firmly agree with the views expressed by Laing and Wong.[1] The incidence of documented hypernatraemic dehydration secondary to the failure of lactation in Bristol is 1.7 per 1000 live births much higher than that described by Oddie et al. [2] in the Northern Region (2.5...
Conflict of Interest:
None declared. - Published on: 27 November 2002Hypernatraemic dehydration - excess sodium is not the causeShow More
Dear Editor
I am grateful to Laing and Wong for raising once again the issue of hypernatraemic dehydration in the first few days of life.[1] However, I think it is important to remember that hypernatraemic dehydration, like anaemia, is a sign of disease not a diagnosis in itself. A low haemoglobin concentration in blood can be caused by a large number of different pathological and physiological processes. Hypern...
Conflict of Interest:
None declared. - Published on: 26 November 2002Hypernatremic dehydrationShow More
Dear Editor
I have read the recent lead article in the Archives, Laing and Wong.[1] I wish to point out that dehydration in the first few days does not occur in breastfed babies. If the babies were breastfeeding, they wouldn't get dehydrated. It occurs in babies who are only pretending to breastfeed. But unfortunately, this is altogether too common, babies leaving hospital only pretending to breastfeed.
The...
Conflict of Interest:
None declared. - Published on: 8 November 2002Hypernatraemia in the first few days: is the incidence rising?Show More
Dear Editor
As Laing and Wong [1] correctly state, there is increasing recognition of the occurrence of hypernatraemic dehydration in breast fed babies. However there continues to be confusion regarding the best way to manage this life-threatening problem. The disagreement centres on whether the deficit of free water should be replaced with an isotonic solution (0.9% saline) or a hypotonic one.
Hype...
Conflict of Interest:
None declared. - Published on: 7 November 2002Hypernatraemia in breastfed infantsShow More
Dear Editor
I congratulate Laing and Wong for a thorough review of the literature on hypernatraemic dehydration in breastfed infant.[1] Their appreciation of the importance of supporting breastfeeding as a way of avoiding this very uncommon problem is most welcome. I entirely agree that simply to promote breastfeeding is not enough, practical support must be made available to women to ensure that problems with in...
Conflict of Interest:
None declared. - Published on: 28 October 2002Hypernatraemia in the first few days: a tragic case.Show More
Dear Editor
Laing and Wong [1] highlight the fact that hypernatraemic dehydration can be difficult to recognise and may have serious consequences. We describe an extreme case.
An 8-day-old infant was admitted to hospital with a small haematemesis. She had lost 19% of her birth weight and her plasma sodium was 173 mmol/l. She had renal and hepatic impairment and was found to have a thrombosis of th...
Conflict of Interest:
None declared.